Horatio Gordon "Horace" Hutchinson (16 May 1859 – 27 July 1932) was an English amateur golfer who played in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Hutchinson won the 1886 and 1887 Amateur Championships. He had three top-10 finishes in the Open Championship, his best result being sixth in the 1890 Open Championship.

He was also a prolific writer of books on the subject of golf and other sporting themes. Hutchinson was the second English captain of the St Andrews Golf Club, Scotland. Onesiphorus Tyndall Bruce was the first Englishman to captain the R&A in 1838. Hutchinson suffered from grave illness in the latter portion of his life and committed suicide in Chelsea, London, England, on 27 July 1932.

Early life Hutchinson, born 16 May 1859 in London, England, was the third son of General William Nelson Hutchinson (1803–1895) and Mary Hutchinson (née Russell). He began his golfing career at an early age playing at the Royal North Devon Golf Club—also known as Westward Ho!—a course founded in 1864 and designed by Old Tom Morris.Old Tom Morris Golf Course Architecture, 1 July 2006, accessed 30 January 2012. By the age of 16, he won the club medal championship. He attended the University of Oxford's Corpus Christi College from 1878 to 1881, where he was a cricket player, and where he made an immediate impression by playing number one on the Oxford University golf team, and led them to victory over arch-rival Cambridge in the University Golf Match.

During his Oxford years he would spend vacations at home playing the Royal North Devon course accompanied by a young orphaned caddie who was employed by the Hutchinson family as a houseboy. The young lad went by the name of John Henry Taylor. Taylor's future exploits in golf—which included winning five Open Championships—would become legendary.

Hutchinson was a keen billiards player and enjoyed rowing, shooting and angling. He graduated from Oxford BA with third-class honours in literae humaniores (1881) and entered the Inner Temple with a view to reading for the bar, but his health, always frail, temporarily broke down. In 1890 he considered becoming a sculptor and studied briefly under G. F. Watts. In 1893 he married Dorothy Margaret Chapman, daughter of Major Frederick Barclay Chapman of the 14th Hussars.

The Amateur Championship Hutchinson's major accomplishments in golf were his two victories in the 1886 and 1887 Amateur Championships. He became the first player to successfully defend the title by defeating the great John Ball on Ball's home course at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake.

Hutchinson was an avid student—and later teacher—of the mechanics of the golf swing, so he decided to put forth in writing his suggestions on methods of play. He said, among other things, "The great secret of all strokes played for the most part is to make the club travel as long as possible in the direction in which you want the ball to go".

In 1896, showing his humorous side on the subject of golf etiquette, Hutchinson remarked:

Business ventures From 1910 a local director to their West End branch and later its chairman,Royal Exchange Assurance. The Times, Thursday, 27 April 1933; p. 21; issue 46429. Hutchinson was elected to the court of Directors of Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation in May 1919.City News in Brief. The Times, Friday, 9 May 1919; p. 19; issue 42095. Following Hutchinson's death in 1932 the chairman of Royal Exchange began his address to their 213th Annual General Court by telling of his deepest regret. "He had the interests of the Corporation always very much at heart and the charm of his personality endeared him to his colleagues and to all those with whom he came in contact. He is very much missed by us all".

In 1905, with his golfing friend H. C. B. Underdown, he became one of the two first directors of Commercial Cars Limited (Commer) which the pair of them set up to make Commer commercial vehicles. Their venture was intended to capitalize on a promising preselector gearbox invented for heavy vehicles. He remained on that board until his death.

Death

Although he lived to be 73 years old, Hutchinson suffered with poor health most of his life, and was for the last eighteen years of life incapacitated by grave illness. Before 1920 he left his Sussex home, Shepherds Gate, Coleman's Hatch, across Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club from Forest Row, and moved to 29 Lennox Gardens, Chelsea, London. Eighteen years after he could no longer play golf, he committed suicide there on 27 July 1932 and was buried on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery. He was survived by his wife. According to his 1932 probate, his wealth at death was £26,337 (£ today).

Legacy

American golf teaching professional Mike Stevens said of Hutchinson, "In my mind, there is no question that Horace Hutchinson was a teacher extraordinaire and is clearly the father of golf instruction".

Walter Travis, in 1904—shortly after his victories in the 1903 U.S. Amateur and 1904 British Amateur—said of Hutchinson:

Tournament wins (25) Note: This list may be incomplete.

1875 Royal North Devon Golf Club Boy's Bronze Scratch Medal,Fifty Years of Golf, pp. 29–34. Royal North Devon Golf Club Autumn Scratch MedalFifty Years of Golf, pp. 41–46. 1878 Crookham CupFifty Years of Golf, pp. 47–52. 1879 Crookham Cup,Fifty Years of Golf, pp. 59–64. Royal Liverpool Autumn Dowie Silver Cup Medal 1880 Crookham Cup 1884 St. Andrews Autumn Gold Medal,Fifty Years of Golf, pp. 71–76. St. Andrews George Glennie MedalThe Golfing Annual, 1887–88, p. 211. 1885 Royal Liverpool Spring Connaught Challenge Star MedalThe Golfing Annual, 1887–88, p. 178. 1886 The Amateur Championship, Royal North Devon Golf Club Spring Prince of Wales Gold Challenge MedalThe Golfing Annual, 1887–88, p. 218. 1887 The Amateur Championship, St. Andrews Autumn Gold Medal,The Golfing Annual, 1887–88, p. 206. St. Andrews Spring Silver Cross Medal,The Golfing Annual, 1887–88, p. 221. Royal North Devon Golf Club Spring Prince of Wales Gold Challenge Medal 1889 Royal Eastbourne Fall Hartington Gold Medal, St. Andrews Autumn Gold MedalThe Golfing Annual, 1889–90, p. 243. 1892 Royal Eastbourne Spring Club Gold Medal, Royal Eastbourne Fall Hartington Gold Medal 1894 Royal Liverpool Spring Medal,Fifty Years of Golf, pp. 150–155. Royal Liverpool Fall Medal 1895 Royal Liverpool Fall Medal 1896 Royal Liverpool Fall Medal

Major championships

Amateur wins (2) YearChampionshipWinning scoreRunner-up 1886 The Amateur Championship 7 & 6 Henry Lamb 1887 The Amateur Championship 1 up John Ball

Results timeline Tournament1885188618871888The Glasgow Herald, May 10, 1888, p. 11. Google News.1889The Glasgow Herald, May 8, 1889, p. 10. Google News.The Open ChampionshipT11 LAT16T10The Amateur Championship211R16R32 Tournament1890The Glasgow Herald, May 2, 1890, p. 8. Google News.18911892The Glasgow Herald, May 13, 1892, p. 9. Google News.18931894The Glasgow Herald, April 26, 1894, p. 11. Google News.18951896The Glasgow Herald, May 22, 1896, p. 10. Google News.18971898The Glasgow Herald, May 26, 1898, p. 11. Google News.1899The Open Championship6T2410WDCUTThe Amateur ChampionshipQFQFR32SFR16 Tournament1900Golf, July, 1900, p. 20 . United States Golf Association Museum.1901Golf, June, 1901, p. 414 . United States Golf Association Museum.1902The Glasgow Herald, April 30, 1902, p. 10. Google News.19031904Golf, July, 1904, p. 9 . United States Golf Association Museum.1905Golf, June, 1905, p. 340 . United States Golf Association Museum.1906The Glasgow Herald, May 24, 1906, p. 8. Google News.1907The Glasgow Herald, May 29, 1907, p. 12. Google News.1908The Glasgow Herald, May 26, 1908, p. 13. Google News.1909The Glasgow Herald, May 26, 1909, p. 14. Google News.The Open ChampionshipThe Amateur ChampionshipR64SFR642SFR128R16R64R256R64 Tournament1910The Glasgow Herald, June 2, 1910, p. 8. Google News.1911The Glasgow Herald, May 31, 1911, p. 10. Google News.1912The American Golfer, July, 1912, p. 197 . la84foundation.org.The Open ChampionshipThe Amateur ChampionshipR32R64R256 Note: Hutchinson played in only The Open Championship and The Amateur Championship.

LA = low amateur WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in match play

Team appearances England–Scotland Amateur Match (representing England): 1902, 1903 (winners), 1904, 1906, 1907, 1909

Books written by Hutchinson

Note: This list may be incomplete.

Hints on the Game of Golf (1886) The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes – Golf (1890)Victorian Entertainments: We Are Amused An Exhibit Illustrating Victorian Entertainment at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library of the University of Illinois (Item 31: Golf in 1890, Item 32: Skating in 1892, Item 33: Cricket in 1888, Item 34: Cycling in 1887) online at library.uiuc.edu. Retrieved 18 April 2015. The Golf Pilgrim on Many Links (1897) The Book of Golf and Golfers (1899) A Friend of Nelson (1902) Bert Edward, The Golf Caddie (1903) The New Book of Golf (1912) – with contributions by May Hezlet, et al. Life of Sir John Lubbock, Lord Avebury (1914) The Eight of Diamonds: the Story of Week-End (1914) Fifty Years of Golf (1919) Portraits of the Eighties (1920)

References

External links